Kicking Horse Bighorn Sheep Project
/Golden and District Rod and Gun Club
Kicking Horse Bighorn Sheep Project
(Health and Movement Data Summary
March 27, 2019 to November 30, 2020)
Prepared by:
Jeremy Ayotte MSc, RPBio Phyla Biological Consulting Inc.
Prepared for:
Golden and District Rod and Gun Club
Summary of bighorn sheep movement and health data to November 30, 2020
5 Survey Iridium GPS collars were purchased from Vectronic Aerospace and designed for deployment on bighorn sheep. Collars were programmed to record locations every 4-6 hours and provide mortality alerts if a collar has not moved in 12 hours. High fix rates and long battery life are trade-offs, the average battery lifetime estimate for these collars is 4.2 years
All 5 GPS collars have now been deployed:
2 ewes were captured, sampled and collared 27 March 2019
1 ram was captured, sampled and collared 14 May 2019
2 rams were captured, sampled and collared 14 May 2020
Chemical immobilization was administered using a dart gun from a vehicle or on foot at a distance of less than 30 m. BAM II (butorphanol/azaperone/medetomidine) was injected using 1.5 cc Pneu-Darts (tri-port 14 guage wire barb) delivered into a large hindquarter muscle. Following completion of sampling and collaring, a reversal of atipamezole and naltrexone was subcutaneously injected into the hind quarters
Using standard Ministry FLNRORD Wildlife Health Program sample kits, health samples were collected from all 5 bighorns and included nasal swabs, ear swabs, blood, hair, fecal, and DNA samples
Lab results from nasal swabs confirm that here has been no Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae detected in nasal swabs or blood serum samples. M.ovi is a respiratory bacteria spread from domestic to wild sheep and is a primary concern in health and conservation of wild sheep. We are currently waiting on lab results from the 2 rams collared 14 May 2020
Both ewes were pregnant at the time of capture.
DNA samples (ear punch) will be used to investigate a genomic estimate of inbreeding for this population, and will also contribute to a larger study on the genetic analysis of California vs Rocky Mountain bighorn. Results pending.
Fecal pellets were analyzed for cortisol levels as a stress indicator.
All health sample results will be archived in the Ministry of FLNRORD Wildlife Health Database
GPS collars have collected over 10,000 locations from 5 collared bighorn sheep:
Ewe 34087: 3144 locations
Ewe 34091: 3426 locations
Ram 36002: 2275 locations
Ram 36003: 771 locations
Ram 36006: 745 locations
25% (2559/10361) of all collared sheep locations were within the KHCP project limits. Female bighorn sheep spend over 30% of their time within the project limits. The breakdown by individual sheep is:
Initial investigation of lambing sites (10 May to 4 June, from Poole 2013) for the 2 collared bighorn ewes, suggests that there are potential lambing sites within the project limits (Fig. 3). All ewe locations during this sensitive period are within 1 km of the Project Limits. Field verification is required to confirm that these ewes actually had a lamb at heel.
